Shoe insole



Oct. 29, 1935. N. ELKIN SHOE INSOLE Filed Aug. 9, 1932 INVENTOR Y v BY mum QQMKW ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 29, 1935 UNITED F ICE This invention relates to shoes and the like and more particularly to a prepared insole for such articles and has for a. general object the provision of an insole formed from a single piece of grain leather which has a desirable rigidity and thickness in the shank and heel portion, a corrective portion, and an improved flexibility and lightness in the ball and forepart portions.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a one-piece insole formed from grain leather which has a desirable rigidity and thickness in the shank and .heel portion by virtue of the stiffness of grain leather, a requi- 5 site flexibility and lightness in the ball and forepart portions by virtue of the removal of substantially the entire grain surface from those parts, in a manner to form an integral corrective pad in the metatarsus area as a support for the metatarsal arch of the foot, by the selective removal of the grain leather from the forepart of the insole in obtaining the desired flexibility in certain portions of the latter and retaining desirable rigidity and thickness in other 251 portions.

A more specific object is to prepare an insole from grain leather in the manner described to produce longitudinally stiff heel, shank and arch portions, a flexible forepart, and an integral corrective pad, and thereafter to locate the insole while tempered on a last having a depression or cavity corresponding to the pad and holding the insole under pressure against the last until it conforms accurately to the contour thereof.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others,

and the article possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements, which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure,

and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in

0 which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the insole of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the insole positioned relative to an upper, and a last with portions broken away and parts in section.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig.

2 looking in the direction of the arrows with the upper omitted therefrom.

Prior to the present invention, the insoles in shoes have been commonly made up of several 6 carefully arranged plies of various materials to provide a desired flexibility of the ball and forepart, a requisite stiifness of the shank and heel portion, corrective pads or metatarsal arch supports. Although such insoles satisfy shoe con- 10 struction requirements, they necessitate many operations and increase the shoe production cost. The insoles of the present invention admirably satisfy shoe construction requirements, while reducing to a minimum the number of necessary op- 15 erations and the cost.

Referring to the drawing, like numerals refer to like parts throughout, wherein I0 indicates generically a one-piece insole having a heel portion II, a shank portion l2, a ball portion l3, and forepart portion I 4. This insole is dinkedout of grain leather and substantially the entire grain surface is then skived from the ball and forepart portions except for that portion I5 of the metatarsus area which forms the corrective pad or sup- 35 port for the metatarsal arch of the foot or for such other area as one may desire to use for corrective purposes. As is indicated in Fig. 1, I6 indicates the boundary of the metatarsal skiving. Fig. 2 shows the disposition of this insole with re- 30 lation to the upper ll of a shoe and the last l8, wherein the flesh side of the insole is disposed on the under side of the shoe. It will be noted from an inspection of Fig. 3 that the last I8 is provided with a cavity 19 to accommodate the corrective 35 pad I5. By tempering the inner sole and placing it under pressure against the last until it is dry, it may be moulded faithfully to conform to both the longitudinal and transverse contours of the last. This operation may be conveniently acoomplished by clamping the last and tempered insole in a press having an inflatable pad.

Grain leather is relatively stiff, possibly because of the compactness of the fibers in the grain surface. When substantially the entire grain surface is removed from the ball and forepart portions, the latter is rendered very flexible. The insole of the present invention accordingly has relatively stiff shank, heel and corrective pad portions and flexible ball and forepart portions, the stiffness of the shank and heel portions providing the desired support and rigidity therein, while the requisite flexibility in the ball and forepart portions are efficiently attained by skiving off the entire grain of the ball and forepart portions only.

Insoles are usually made of a thickness of about five irons. The present insole has substantially the entire grain surface skived away in the ball and forepart portions except in the metatarsus area so that the thickness of these portions is considerably less than the thickness of the heel and shank portions, and so that a pad is formed in the metatarsus area for the support of the metatarsal arch. An insole made in accordance with the present invention, having a thickness of about five irons in the heel and shank portions and metatarsus area would thus be of about three irons thickness in the ball and forepart portions, and an insole having a six iron thickness in the heel and shank portions and metatarsus area would have about a four iron thickness in the aforesaid other portions. These proportions are given by way of example and. not in a limiting sense and are indicia of the fact that substantially the entire grain surface of the ball'and forepart portions has been skived away, thereby reducing the thickness considerably in contrast to a mere mechanical bufilng or working of the grain surface.

It will thus be seen that the present invention efliciently and economically attains the objects set forth above, providing a one-piece insole of grain leather having the desired rigidity in the shank and heel portions and metatarsus area, the requisite flexibilty in the ball and forepart portions and an integral corrective pad or support for the metatarsal arch or other desired portion of the foot, which can be very cheaply produced and is admirably suited for use in shoes which are in whole or in part cement-lasted; or in any other method of shoemaking in which it is not necessary to channel the insole.

Since certain changes in carrying out the above process, and certain modifications in the article which embody the invention may be made without departing from its scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

7 It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a one-piece insole of grain leather having substantially the entire grain surface skived away at the ball portion except in the metatarsus area.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a one-piece insole of grain leather having substantially the entire grain skived away from the surface of the ball and forepart portions, the boundary between the skived and non-skived sole portions being configured to form an integral corrective pad in the area of said portions. 6

heel and shank portion and having the grain 15 surface at its forepart removed to render such forepart relatively thin and flexible, the forward part of said stiff portion jutting into the metatarsus area of said forepart to form an integral corrective pad.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a one-piece insole of grain leather includinga relatively stiff heel and shank portion and having the grain surface skived away at its forepart to render said forepart relatively thin and flexible, the boundary 25 between said relatively stiff portion and the skived area being configured to form a forwardly jutting arch support integral with such stiff portion.

6. A method of preparing insoles for shoes 30 which comprises in combination, providing a last having a cavity in its bottom, forming an insole from grain leather with a relatively stiff heel and shank portion and a corrective pad corresponding to said cavity and formed as an in- 35' tegral extension of said heel and shank portion by skiving away substantially the entire grain from the area of the ball and forepart portions in a manner to provide said pad and render said ball and forepart portions flexible, positioning said insole on the last while tempered, clamping said last and positioned insole in a press, and allowing said insole to dry in conformity with the last.

7. A method of preparing insoles for shoes 45 which comprises in combination, providing a last having a cavity in its bottom at the metatarsus area, forming an insole from leather with a relatively stiff heel and shank portion and a corrective pad corresponding to said cavity and formed as an integral extension of said heel and shank portion by reducing the thickness of the ball and forepart portions in a manner to provide said pad and render said ball and forepart portions relatively flexible, positioning said insole on the last while tempered, clamping said last and positioned insole in a press, and allowing said insole to dry in conformity with the last.

NEWTON ELKIN. 

